Planning isn’t predicting.

Some things in life are more exciting than others. Most of us woke up on the 4th of July with a lighter step and enthusiastic anticipation for the day. Fireworks, need we say more? No one in their right mind sets a meeting with their financial planner to map out a savings strategy on such a day.

Just because something isn’t intuitively engaging doesn’t make it a waste of time. Many things are like this: dental hygiene, exercise, study, failure, and constructive criticism to name a few. Financial planning falls in the unfortunate category of Important but boring.

The necessity of financial planning is so distressing that there are over 300,000 financial advisors employed in the United States alone to advocate for it. Big money industry is a big money industry.

If financial planning were a waste of time, there would be no market to outsource the process to a professional. Similarly, there’s no market for third-party food chewing services. Teeth come naturally while capital markets, central banking, and macroeconomics do not.

Each of us is only given 24 hours in a day, 16 of which are waking and 12 are productive. Dedicate 8 of these 12 productive hours to work and this leaves about 4 hours per day to employ yourself as required.

We don’t need to review the laundry list of life-chores, including laundry, to conclude that we Americans suffer from chronic time crunch. Financial planning just seems like one of those things that can wait, perhaps indefinitely.

Some even go so far as to excuse it as a complete waste of time. It can be if a broken process is used. Mowing grass with an inoperable mower would certainly be a tragic waste of time.

Because the effort of planning is no small time-investment, consuming valuable personal motivation stores, it’s important to adopt an effective process. Ben and Brent thought this would be a good topic to touch on.

In news that may come as shocking to the listener: the Financial Planners do not think financial planning, done correctly, is a waste of time. The key is in process and execution, the focus of the episode’s discussion.

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About your Hosts

Ben Jones, CFP®

Managing Director, National Wealth Management Group

www.nwmgadvisors.com 

Sign up for Ben’s newsletter at www.karastick.com 

Follow him on X @thekaratstick

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-nwmg/

  __

Brent Gargano, CFP®

Founder & Advisor, Infinite Wealth Planning 

www.infinitewealthplanning.com

linkedin.com/in/brent-gargano-cfp®-2067b573

  ____________________________

Editor:

Trevor Gargano

Email: Trevor@trevorgargano.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-gargano-72727b67/

Website: TheDigitalQuarterback.com

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Follow our socials to support the podcast; see extra clips and announcements!

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  ____________________________

Investment advice offered through National Wealth Management Group, LLC.

All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.

The information presented is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a recommendation or specific advice.

The average child spends about eight hours a day in front of a video screen. We’ve now seen a generation of children raised on a digital cocktail of social media, video games, and streaming services. A panoramic window into the world, algorithmically tuned for your child’s wants and subconscious desires.

Ferraris turn more heads than Hondas, a human preference so intrinsic that it shows up in children. And wealth is more attractive than knowledge. Countless hours of affluence are processed by brains that can’t even comprehend a simple cash flow statement.

We’ve all encountered the proverbial trust fund baby with more money than sense and think, ‘what went wrong’? The grunge of teen spirit cannot be washed away with money. It must be bathed in lessons hard learned under watchful guidance.

Even then, the stink of poor choices persists as potent reminders that the stakes are real. Guidance is the key. What form this guidance takes is debatable and can vary depending on the child or situation.

Ben and Brent argue their approaches to how we should introduce our children to wealth. Their approaches vary, demonstrating that there is no one ‘correct’ path, but branching paths. The objective should be to move on those paths that chart in the generally correct direction.

Ben prefers the use of UTMA (Uniform Transfers to Minors Act) account as a training ground with a liberal degree child responsibility while Brent favors a more conservative tact with tighter controls.

It’s a lively discussion, and we are curious to find out where you stand on the subject. What age do you think your kids would be ready to handle a meaningful sum of capital?

Send comments, questions, and requests for show contents to ben@nwmgadvisors.com or brent@infinitwealthplanning.com!

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Sources:

Cost of College over Time: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_330.10.asp

‘Trump’ Accounts: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/22/tax-bill-maga-baby-bonus-now-called-trump-accounts-who-is-eligible.html

____________________________

About your Hosts

Ben Jones, CFP®

Managing Director, National Wealth Management Group

www.nwmgadvisors.com 

Sign up for Ben’s newsletter at www.karastick.com 

Follow him on X @thekaratstick

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-nwmg/

___

Brent Gargano, CFP®

Founder & Advisor, Infinite Wealth Planning 

www.infinitewealthplanning.com

Connect With Brent -> linkedin.com/in/brent-gargano-cfp®-2067b573

____________________________

Editor:

Trevor Gargano

Email: Trevor@trevorgargano.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-gargano-72727b67/

Website: TheDigitalQuarterback.com

____________________________

Follow our socials to support the podcast; see extra clips and announcements!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyalchemistpod/

X: https://twitter.com/moneyalchpod

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556458987483

____________________________

Disclosure:

Investment advice offered through National Wealth Management Group, LLC.

All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.

The information presented is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a recommendation or specific advice.